Re: The Gorillaz Thread

and there is a longer version out there - a 12 minute version.

it turns out they recorded a lot of this live. interesting.

Originally Posted by pitchfork

When Damon Albarn, James Murphy, and André 3000 holed up in Albarn's London studio for three days last fall to create a new song for Converse's "Three Artists. One Song" series, the trio didn't really have a master plan in mind. "Music inspired by a shoe is quite a hard thing to get your head around," says Albarn, who got involved after his Gorillaz partner Jamie Hewlett created four designs for the sneaker company's spring collection. "It's got to be quite abstract."

And it turns out the blissfully nonsensical four-and-a-half-minute robo-funk track "DoYaThing"-- now available at Converse's site-- isn't the only thing this unlikely group recorded together, as Albarn and Murphy both told us in recent interviews...

The track is actually an appetizer for a decidedly more insane 12-minute version that will debut on the official Gorillaz website in the coming weeks. The extended take of "DoYaThing" is marked by a huffing build-up reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem classics like "Yeah" while André goes totally off script with an ad-libbed, one-take vocal centering around the simple-yet-effective phrase: "I'm the shit!"

Both Albarn and Murphy stressed that the extended "DoYaThing"-- which was recorded live in a fit of spontaneous inspiration on their last day in the studio together-- is the best representation of their collaboration. "That's the story of what happened over the course of those three days," says Albarn, talking about the 12-minute piece. "It's a nice narrative."

We spoke with both Murphy and Albarn about the song in two separate interviews, which you can read below. And watch this space for the Gorillaz-style animated video for the edited "DoYaThing", which is set to premiere on Converse's site February 29.

Photo by Ruvan Wijesooriya

Pitchfork: How did you originally get involved with this track?

James Murphy: My manager called me and was like, "Oh, there's this thing, potentially with these guys-- do you want to do it?" And I was like, "Well yes, I would do that." I didn't know what was going to happen at that point. They could have been like, "They'll send you the music, and then you play some cowbell and mail it back." I was a little bit terrified. But before we went into the studio, Damon and I actually got on Skype to do a video chat, like teenagers. That was fun.

Pitchfork: What was the atmosphere in the studio like when you first got there?

JM: I got there before André, so Damon and I just talked about what we wanted to do. He was already playing around with some new machines, and one of them wound up making a loop that we liked-- we were working on the track before we realized we were working on the track, which was really nice. And then André came in and started playing piano in the background-- everything was a lot more normal than I would have expected.

Pitchfork: André's a pretty mysterious guy, what was he like to work with?

JM: He's just incredibly sweet and cool in a really normal way. He's just an awesome dude. Like, you know how you think you're going to meet André and he's going to be totally cool? He's actually way cooler. I was pretty awestruck. And I was really stunned at how good Damon and André are as technical musicians. Far better than me. They could both sit down and play the piano really well, and I was just like, "Um, I can hit stuff."

Pitchfork: What's your favorite OutKast album?

JM: That's a tough one. In a way, Stankonia, because when it came out it was like, "What?!" But it's tough to not pick anything that has "Hey Ya!" on it because that's like my favorite song of the last 10 years. It's a perfect song; it's hard to not like. It would be weird to have that come on and for someone to be like, "Ugh." I don't know that person. When it comes on, I'm instantly in a good mood in the best possible way.

"You know how you think you're going to meet André and
he's going to be totally cool? He's actually way cooler."

Pitchfork: What was it like working with Damon in his studio?

JM: I have my own studio habits based around being alone, so it was totally refreshing to go to Damon's studio. I didn't have to feel any of the pressure of it being my place, or apologize for this or that, or make sure everybody felt happy. I just got to walk around and play with new things. Damon's very quick and he records anything he's trying, which I found really refreshing. I'm much more labored.

Pitchfork: Were you a Blur fan in the 90s?

JM: I was a Blur fan later. I got into them after I started DFA and met Tim Goldsworthy. Before that, I was into American music pretty much exclusively. I was a grumpy indie rocker, so I think they were too successful for me to like back then.

Pitchfork: Damon has managed stay successful and creative after Blur ended. Considering how you wrapped up LCD last year, did you kind of pick his brain about that sort of thing at all?

JM: No. I just get inspired when I'm around people that work as hard as he does. He makes music all the time. And that's always a little humbling. I'm like, "Oh shit, I really need to stop checking my email and get back to work." He gets at it like a kid every day.

Pitchfork: So there's a 12-minute version of this song, right?

JM: Yeah. That was the fun part. When André started singing, Damon and I just looked at each other, like, "Holy shit, we love his voice." Then Damon sang, and his voice is amazing, too. We'd been working and playing keyboards in the little studio room and, in a weird way, you could forget that Damon has this really distinct voice that's like a part of your history.

Pitchfork: On the 12-minute version, André says "I'm the shit" a lot. Were those vocals based on anything you guys were talking about?

JM: It was just a story about Damon seeing somebody he knew and saying, "How's it going?" and the guy responded, "Oh, my projects are working out great." We all laughed because that's literally like saying, "Oh, it's great-- I'm the shit." So it turned into a thing. It was pretty genius. It's just basically André riffing on that idea.

Pitchfork: So you guys were just bullshitting, basically?

JM: Yeah. Literally.

Photo by Jonny Donovan

Pitchfork: What was your plan of attack regarding this collaboration?

Damon Albarn: I only knew these guys through their work before we got together. And we just took a very open approach to it, talked on the phone, and then all turned up and just started. We were comfortable with each other immediately. It felt very natural.

The 12-minute version represents what we did over three days-- it's quite an insane progression. That version evolved out of just a drum beat and a guitar, and then André just started going, and there was no sense that he was ever gonna stop. [laughs] It was a very exhilarating ride. It's live: I'm playing guitar, the drum machine is going, James is playing bass, and André just goes off. And what he's saying just gets more and more ridiculous. It finished on its own will, we really had nothing to do with it.

Pitchfork: André's vocals on the 12-minute version sound really spontaneous, was that a one-take deal?

DA: Yeah, you don't repeat that. I was inspired by him, and my opening was a one-take as well. The only problem is I'm not as good at ad-libbing, in the sense of it making sense, so mine's a bit more in tongues.

Pitchfork: Do you think you guys would work together again in the future?

DA: There are no plans yet, but I certainly would do it again. If we'd have had two weeks, we could have made a whole record, I'm sure of it.

Re: The Gorillaz Thread

As great as Andre 3000′s contribution to “DoYaThing” proved to be, BBC’s Zane Lowe spoke for probably everyone when he asked for a new Outkast album during the final bars of the song’s world premiere. However, in a new interview with GQ, Andre shoots down rumors of the duo’s impending seventh album and paints a pretty bleak picture for their future.

“There’s been a lot of talk on the Internet about an OutKast album and I have to say that as of now, there are no plans for another OutKast album,” Andre told GQ. “I really don’t know if or when that will happen.”

Instead, the rapper says he is content with “living off the excitement of new artists.” He further adds: “I’ve been privileged to have these new artists kind of reach out and grab back and say, ‘Hey, Andre, we want you on this song.’ So I’ve been taking those calls and for the last two years, I’ve been doing collaborations. So these new artists have kind of been keeping me alive.”

Andre also plans to finally begin work on on his long-awaited, long-rumored solo album in 2012.”I don’t know when it will come out, but hopefully it’ll come out this year.” When asked about the massive expectations for it, Andre added, “The biggest fear is me thinking about it too much—and that’s why I’m just trying to catch the energy just like I’ve done before.”